How popular is hookah anyways?

11/7/13 6:49 PM

Well…

Of the many proud traditions of Ottoman culture, few have achieved the world-wide fame of hookah smoking. Once confined to the Middle East and Near East regions, the hookahs notoriety was invigorated by Napoleons invasion of Egypt and the stream of curious Westerners which followed thereafter. Painters, such as Eugene Delacroix and Jean-Leon Gerome, when depicting Oriental styles typically included a hookah as a symbol of the depicted culture. The hookah was elevated from a regional curiosity to a universal symbol of sophistication.